Chapter 46: Wintersweet Street
Tu Lanxun crouched behind the pavilion, slipping away from a blind spot along a green belt. Feeling she was being watched, she said to Liu Maosheng and N beside her, "I've seen that woman."
It was the person he met in the hospital bathroom. Tu Lanxun did not think this was a coincidence and the other party might be a police officer.
Damn it, Tu Lanxun thought Tang Weining’s case was closed, and she never imagined that there were still policemen around him. Will she be remembered?
N said, "The golden mirror is no longer upstairs. We can leave now."
"Okay." Tu Lanxun browsed his phone, found his web browsing history, and clicked to delete it.
After switching back to the chat software search history and confirming that there were no suspicious signs, Tu Lanxun slid open the Moments.
A forwarded message from an acquaintance in the circle appeared on the Moments. It was a screenshot of another Moments post. Tu Lanxun didn’t know the poster, but the profile picture looked familiar.
The avatar is a life photo of the unfortunate Zhang Xiaohuai, and the name is also very retro, called "Lotus Peace".
She should be Zhang Xiaohuai’s mother, right?
Zhang Xiaohuai's mother posted a reward, not the kind of reward for life, but a plea for people who knew about Zhang Xiaohuai's incident to provide information about an antique collection.
The reward amount is six figures, and if Zhang Xiaohuai can be effectively cured, an additional seven-figure reward will be added.
Tu Lanxun was shocked. The so-called "antique collection" was actually a photo of a gold product, which was the golden mirror.
The latest update on Zhang Xiaohuai's condition was also shared. He is no longer in danger, but his mind is unclear, suggesting he may be suffering from a mental disorder. The post on WeChat Moments hinted that his ordeal was related to the golden mirror.
Wasn't the mirror always in the gold shop? By the way, the gold shop was one of Zhang Xiaohuai's money bags, so maybe he really had handled the mirror.
Should she tell Zhang Xiaohuai's mother about the golden mirror? Tu Lanxun hesitated again and again, but she really didn't know much. The only thing she knew was that there was a ghost in the golden mirror, which would actively harm people and devour spirits.
Tell Zhang Xiaohuai's mother that she will definitely get a six-figure reward, but she will also be entangled in this matter and cannot get out of it.
Tu Lanxun asked: "Is there any way to register a new account so that it cannot be traced?"
N glanced at it and said, "Okay."
Tu Lanxun found a spot in a residential milk tea shop in a nearby building, and a brand new account was quickly registered. Nowadays, Internet regulations are strict, and virtual numbers used for online shopping are not allowed to register real-name accounts, but for N, everything is not a problem.
The computer ghost girl helped to verify and found that the IP address of the account was located in an unknown island country on another continent, which was very safe.
She used that offshore account to add Zhang Xiaohuai's mother, with the note "Golden Mirror". The other party might have been watching the phone every second and passed by at the speed of light.
Lotus Anning: Hello [smile]
Gold always shines: Hello, I have information about the golden mirror in your circle of friends.
Lotus Peace: [Transfer] Please receive the payment.
Zhang Xiaohuai's mother directly transferred a huge deposit, but Tu Lanxun knew that from this moment on, the information of this account had begun to be tracked. However, the strange account that could not be accurately located seemed more credible.
She didn't rush to collect it, and directly skipped the matter of the Dragon and Phoenix Family and briefly explained the function of the golden mirror.
Lotus Peace was showing that it was being input. A commotion came from the other side of the community. Liu Maosheng ran in from outside the store and said, "Guess what? The deceased Xiao Ma was a thief!"
It turned out that Ma Qingnian's mother had revealed her true identity during a conversation with the police. The police found all kinds of valuable women's items in Ma Qingnian's residence, from brand-name bags to diamond watches, but combined with the records of visits with neighbors, Ma Qingnian was almost insulated from ambiguous relationships.
This aroused the vigilance of the leading police officer, and sure enough, after several skillful questionings, Ma Qingnian's mother could no longer hold back and confessed the truth.
Ma Qingnian does not trade stocks and does not have a stable job. His profession is a cyber thief.
Cyber thieves use chatting and other means to arrange for wealthy female netizens to meet up. As the trust level increases, the victims tend to relax their vigilance towards the surrounding environment - except for the date, which gives Ma's accomplices an opportunity to strike.
Speaking of which, the people that Ma Qingnian often brought home late at night were not his wild men, but complete accomplices of thieves.
Liu Maosheng imitated the description vividly: "Oh, his mother was crying and snotting, it was really embarrassing. What kind of parents would allow their children to do such a thing?"
He leaned in closer and said, "That golden mirror was stolen by Young Ma. It was the Dragon and Phoenix Family case. That group of thieves knew another, more vicious gang, and they were temporarily recruited to pull off this crime."
Young Ma couldn't change his habit of stealing. After breaking into the gold shop wearing a mask, he suddenly decided to rob the robbers and quietly took away the gold mirror that looked very valuable without telling anyone.
Little did he know that it was that mirror that cost him his life.
Tu Lanxun was stunned. Liu Maosheng was still recounting the scene of the inquiry. He said, "What's strange is that although Xiao Ma's mother knew her son was doing something dishonest, she still blamed the victim for the previous theft from a female online friend. She also insisted that Xiao Ma was usually timid and had a bit of a 'moral' attitude, and would never dare to offend anyone in the underworld. I don't know why he went crazy this time."
Could it be the effect of the mirror?
Tu Lanxun recalled that when she first saw the golden mirror, it also seized on her biggest pain point to bewitch her.
It seems like... it can really amplify the desires in other people's hearts?
During the conversation, He Hua An Ning had sent a long string of messages, all of which were inquiring about Tu Lanxun's more detailed information about the mirror. She typed out her previous guess and sent it to him. He Hua An Ning was silent for a full minute, and finally sent a message:
Would you be willing to accept this commission and help us find the location of that golden mirror? Or the person who made it would be fine. I will definitely reward you handsomely.
Tu Lanxun agreed. After all, he and Liu Maosheng were on the same commission, so he could kill two birds with one stone.
He Hua An Ning transferred the six-figure reward to Tu Lanxun neatly. The account was an overseas card number provided by N. Tu Lanxun actually had this thing himself, but there was no need to mention it now.
Liu Maosheng stood up: "Where are we going now?"
Tu Lanxun glanced at his phone and said, "Lamei Street, Guihua Town, Pu'er Township."
Hehua An Ning revealed that Zhang Xiaohuai had both the means and the interest to open several gold shops. He liked to play with gold, and many of the gold items on the counter were purchased by him from home and abroad, including the gold mirror.
According to the purchase details list, the golden mirror had been in the Longfeng Family Gold Shop for a month. Zhang Xiaohuai bought it from an online store specializing in antiques and curios. It was discovered that the store was closed a few days after selling the golden mirror.
The strangest thing is that the registrant information could not be found. The website said that there was a bug in the system.
Only the name of the store remains: Black Forest Antiques.
Tu Lanxun can't help but think of the Black Forest high-end department store.
It was a ghost shop, shipping from Lamei Street, Guihua Town, Pu'er Township, near Lucheng. She decided to go there.
#
The group immediately set off. Pu'er Township is in the south of Lucheng, and going there requires crossing the entire urban area. They drove past Lucheng Agricultural University and saw the roof of the Food College's experimental building from afar. Teachers and students were entering and leaving the school freely at the gate, but Tang Weining was no longer there.
Tu Lanxun sighed silently, walked south, and stopped by the convenience store to pick up some food.
The computer ghost searched the Internet very quickly: "The tea cakes in Pu'er Township are very famous. Boss, please bring some back." Bai Xiaoju also poked his head out from behind the table, and his pair of dark eyes said, "Bring some, bring some."
Tu Lanxun agreed and set off again. The Jetta was refueled halfway. When the sky outside was slightly dyed red by the sunset, they arrived at Guihua Town, Pu'er Township.
Sweet osmanthus is in full bloom this season, with golden osmanthus scattered across the town. The evening breeze, mixed with the soft and rich fragrance of osmanthus, flows in through the car windows, making people feel slightly tipsy.
Guihua Town was a small town with wide, straight streets lined with small stalls selling roasted sweet potatoes and the local specialty, glutinous rice. The townspeople finished work earlier than in the larger cities, rushing home, clutching their handbags and vegetable bags. Although this trip was to investigate ghosts, the richness of the mundane world helped Tu Lanxun relax.
Liu Maosheng took a deep breath of the smell outside and recalled, "When I was young, I went on a business trip to Pu'er Township, but I've never been to Guihua Town. Yingying was still young at that time."
Tu Lanxun stared at the street sign carefully and asked casually, "What did Uncle Liu do for a living?"
The car fell silent for a moment. Liu Maosheng and N exchanged a glance through the rearview mirror. Liu Maosheng laughed and said, "It was just ordinary work. I drove and delivered some documents. Later..."
Liu Maosheng's eyes became confused, and he looked around unfocused, as if another person had come out of his body, sizing up the world. He pondered, "Then I seemed to be sent to another place? Why can't I remember clearly..."
He was alone in a vortex of terror. N cleared his throat and interrupted, "Teacher Nie is back."
This sentence brought Liu Maosheng back to his senses. He tilted his head back, rested his head on the seat, and looked at the pattern on the roof, mumbling, "Oh..."
N gently took off the silver chain pendant hanging from his neck and handed it to Liu Maosheng, who carefully took it with both hands. N said, "Uncle Liu, please help me check it."
There was a line of numbers engraved on the silver round plate, April 17, which seemed to be his birthday.
Tu Lanxun has a lot of imagination. N is an orphan, and maybe the chain is the last souvenir his family left him before they left him, letting him know what day he was born.
When the car reached Lamei Street, the group became very alert. This is a street of paper products. Various kinds of memorial items and paper advertisements have become a culture and integrated into the lives of residents. Most of the people living here are funeral practitioners.
They came in from the end of the street, passed a residential courtyard without a plaque, and saw branches of a wintersweet tree sticking out from the courtyard. They continued forward and saw more and more paper-made samples being placed on the street side, and paper figures smiling at them.
A courier happened to pass by on a tricycle, and Tu Lanxun called out to him. Liu Maosheng expertly pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and secretly passed it to Tu Lanxun. She took out a cigarette and held it out the window, inquiring, "Hello, may I ask, which company on our street delivers the most packages?"
The courier took the cigarette, his eyes wandering to one place, but he didn't answer directly. He asked, "Why are you asking this?"
Tu Lanxun smiled and said, "I came here to buy some things. I've only heard that the paper-making street in town is famous, but I don't know which one is the best. I guess the ones with big sales have better reputations."
The courier then pointed in a direction: "Here, that's the one, they ship goods every day."
He was referring to a "black shop" with a black wooden signboard, black wooden doorposts and black wooden window frames.
The storefront is very large and wide, standing out among the many paper-making shops. It is both more imposing and more gloomy than the others. The pair of red and green paper people standing at the door to welcome guests are much taller than the others, almost as tall as the body, and look very much like human beings.
The wind blew, and the paper man swayed slightly, his head, shoulders and body slowly turning towards the car of Tu Lanxun and his group, with a smile on his face.
The name of that store is "Heijia Mingji Department Store".
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